Bottom Line: The El Diablo Burger from Hopdoddy Burger Bar combines high-quality ingredients with good heat to deliver a first-rate burger experience.
There are lots of places to get a good burger these days, whether you want one from the more decent fast food joints or something more on the gourmet side. And if you are looking for the latter, Burger Fi, Shake Shack, Five Guys, and more have some good options, but a Texas chain is starting to give them some notable competition. Hopdoddy started up in Austin and has since expanded to San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, and even outside of Texas, and they are slinging some pretty tasty burgers while offering a decent selection of beer and other beverages to wash them down.
We have two locations in San Antonio, and I have had the place on my go-to list for a while. I finally made it this past weekend, and you know I had to try out the El Diablo Burger. Here’s what comes on that: “Tillamook pepper jack cheese, habaneros & serranos, caramelized onions, salsa roja, lettuce, tomato & chipotle aioli sauce”.
To start off with, the burger patty consists of 100% pure, never frozen beef and I am going to guess it is a third pounder. (I didn’t see the size on the menu, but that seems about right.) It is perfectly seasoned and grilled, and if you put just that on a bun by itself it would still be quite good. But Hopdoddy likes to kick things up with funky combinations and they definitely accomplished that with the El Diablo.
The Tillamook pepper jack brings the cheese taste you are looking for in a cheeseburger with a little bit of sharpness and a nice kick. The caramelized onions add some sweetness, and that salsa roja brings some tang and earthiness as a counterbalance. The chipotle aioli adds some creaminess and a hint of smoke while also spicing things up some. And the lettuce and tomato deliver the fresh component that brings everything together. And while that bun is tasty and freshly cooked and holds everything together well, this is still a rather messy burger.
In addition to the list of ingredients mentioned above, the El Diablo also has fresh serranos and habaneros added to the mix, and that is where the heat really comes from. I did not notice too many of the habaneros, but they were quite generous with the serranos. Those delivered a nice crunch and a delicious pop of heat, and I would place this burger at close to the Hot on my scale. It is not at the scalding level, and that is a good thing because you can enjoy the heat with all the other quality ingredients. The average mortal will definitely struggle with this one, but chiliheads should savor every bite.
Hopdoddy does not include the nutrition info, but I have seen a couple of sites that put this one at 780 calories. That seems kind of low to me, but I’m not going to argue too much. When you get this burger and split some of their shareable fries, you are definitely in splurge mode. But that is okay because the quality is worth it. And at under $10 for the burger (fries not included), that’s not bad for a premium selection.
The name Hopdoddy combines “hop” from the hops in beer with “Doddy” which is a nickname for Black Angus cattle. They have several beers on tap along with signature margaritas and a full bar, so you have plenty of drinks that you can pair with your burger. You can check their website for locations near you, and if you have one within range, I highly recommend paying it a visit. Next up on my list to try here is the Buffalo Bill Burger and then the Nashville Hot Chicken. Stay tuned.